Page 36 of Tangled Passion

“Sure. I’ll give you the best one we have since the place is almost empty right now. It’s not much to look at, but it’s clean. My Margaret makes sure of that.”

“That would be fine,” she said and signed the paper he’d put in front of her. After giving him her credit card and signing the receipt, he handed her the key.

“If you need anything, dial one.”

“Thank you, that’s very nice of you,” Madelyn said.

At her car, she grabbed her small bag and unlocked the door to the room. She looked around and agreed that the place was clean but outdated. It would work for the night.

Madelyn locked the door and pulled the things she’d need for a shower from her bag. In the bathroom, she turned on the shower and undressed.

Once she got under the spray, a sound tore from her throat, and then she started sobbing. She sank to the floor and cried until she could take a breath without pain. The water started to cool, so she hurriedly washed her body. Her hair got wet, but it would dry. She didn’t have the energy to blow-dry it.

She quickly dried her body and wrapped another towel around her head. She pulled on a nightgown and walked back into the room after grabbing the roll of toilet paper. Since there were no tissues, it would have to do.

There was nothing else she needed. Before she slid into bed, she turned the ceiling light off and turned on the one by the bed. That’s when she let herself go. The sobs started again, but this time, they didn’t want to stop.

She had always scoffed at the idea of a broken heart affecting someone’s health, but she was now finding out it was very real. She felt twenty years older than she was, and her body ached.

After a while, she closed her eyes to rest. If she slept, maybe she wouldn’t feel the pain. She truly hoped so.

Chapter Twenty-One

Garrett pulled into the driveway and saw his brother pacing with his phone up to his ear. Garrett could tell right away something had happened, and he dreaded finding out.

He parked, slid out of the truck, and walked to Trey. “What’s up?”

Trey stuck his phone in his pocket. “Madelyn’s gone.”

He was confused. “Gone? Where? When will she be back?”

“Give someone the meds you got. We need to find her as soon as possible.”

Garrett became worried and was afraid to know what happened.

“I’ll drive,” Trey said, and they both slid into the truck.

“Tell me,” Garrett said before they made it out of the driveway.

Trey sighed. “All I know is that Madelyn’s things are gone. When I asked Pearl, she told me she left.”

“Why? Is she coming back?”

Trey shook his head. “It doesn’t sound like it.”

“What happened?” Garrett asked as his stomach tightened more.

“Pearl says it’s because Madelyn doesn’t think we want her here or…”

“That’s bullshit. She knows. We’ve been asking her to move in with us.”

Trey turned onto the highway. “Hear me out. She knows we want her, but she doesn’t know how much we love her or that we want to make it permanent.”

“We’ve talked about that shit. I’ve told her I love her so many times,” Garrett growled.

“Think about it. I thought I’d told her how much shemeans to me, but when I really think about it, I don’t think I did. I said it in my head a hundred times but never to her.”

Garrett thought back to all the times he thought he’d told her. Fuck. Trey was right. Garrett didn’t think he’d said it out loud to her. “It was because we were afraid of coming on too strong, and now, we know we didn’t come on strong enough. Fuck.”

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